Empire, UK
April 2001
By Ian Freer

Reputedly the most expensive Euro project ever produced, it's easy to see were the money went on Jean-Jacques Annaud's thouroughly entertaining World War II's drama. In tackling a real life chapter from Russian war, Annaud certainly doesn't skimp on the breathtaking spectacle. Early scenes of the Russian army on boats being bombarded by aircraft - footsoldiers scrabbling over the sides to safety are shot by their officers for deserting - and the subsequent scramble across Stalingrad Square are writ large and spectacular, the melee captured in muted, harrowing tones.

Suprisingly believable as a man of action, Law looks every inch the haunted sniper. His scenes with Fiennes capture the warm friendship between the two, but both actors struggle to find depth in characters that lack sides and shades. The story throws up interesting brain food about the nature of propaganda and the paradoxes of Zaitsev's popularity - he is a lone hero in a land that believes in the equality of people - yet fails to follow these themes up.

Moreover, the threeway love story between Zaitsev, Danilov and literate soldier Tania (an adequate Weisz) fails to convince. While the single love-making scene gets at a believable sense of grabbed intimacy, the menage-a-trois often lapses into a movie-movie feel that is at odds with the realistic tone of the combat footage. Similarly, the script lacks the political intelligence (an overly earnest voice-over intones, "Europe lies crushed beneath the Nazi jackboot") and the sense of complexity that marks out the best of epic cinema. Compounding the simplistic tone of the piece, Bob Hoskins lends an overwrought presence as Krushchev.

Yet where "Enemy At The Gates" really impresses is in its central tussle between natural sharpshooter Zaitsev and clinical assasin Konig. Annaud gets fasinating mileage in the duel of wits between two men - to ascertain Zaitsev's position, Konig sends out a Russian captive dressed as a Nazi, hoping Zaitsev will shoot - filled with nifty sniper methodology.

The duel reaches its highpoint in a gripping, expertly crafted set-piece as, stranded without his gun, Zaitsev takes refuge behind a cooker in a derelict factory and Konig is forced to flush the Russian out. The quality turn of the movie, Ed Harris is great as a reserved, calculating marksman, but always hints at a buried humanity (as his scenes with a Russian moppet), never lapsing into the typical Nazi monster.

Any Good?
For all its nods towards gritty authenticity, "Enemy At The Gates" occasionally feels like a throwback to an older style of war movie in its lack of historical savvy and caricatured love story. Yet, the sense of scale and action in general, and the central duel between superstar snipers in particular, more than compensate, serving up a gripping battle of wits.

Three Stars = Good